"FUCKING FINALLY!"
"Keep it down. There are other patients here." Ray reprimanded him.
Karl quickly covers his mouth and whispers. "Fucking finally."
Ray rolls his eyes at Karl's behaviour. "Quickly change and find me near the elevator."
Karl watches Ray leave. Just as he left the room, a nurse entered holding Karl's armour. "Here sir." As the nurse extends her hands, the bunny ears on her short blonde hair twitched cutely. She finds the young patient staring at her ears in passion. The nurse blushes. "Sir, can you not look at me...."
Karl snaps out of his curiosity and quickly apologises. "S-Sorry." He quickly grabs the armour from her hands. At that brief moment, Karl's fingers touched her hands. 'Are those made of cotton? Are you a stuff toy?'
The nurse was actually pretty according to Karl's standards. She has a pretty lady-like features, not exaggerated at all. The fair skin and the innocent expression on her face was very charming.
Noticing Karl's surprising gaze, the bunny nurse's expression turns bashful and her ears droops down which creates a mesmerizing scene in Karl's mind. The nurse turns her head away while tightly griping her hands in front. "S-Sir."
Karl visibly twitches.
"D-Do you want any help in changing?"
Karl's head races at her question, anyone with an average mind can guess what is she actually implying. Seeing that the kid is not answering, the carnal urges of an rabbit kicks in. The nurse steps closer to Karl and puts her hand on his cheek. Karl could see the hunger on her face.
'Maybe.'
The nurse grabs Karl's hand and puts it on her own hips. The soft sensation overfloods the neurons on Karl's head. 'Maybe, I can give it a taste?'
The nurse closes her eyes and pulls Karl towards her. Without any resistance Karl lets her do as she pleases. 'I too deserve a chance to let of my steam.'
Just as the nurse is about to kiss Karl, the face of Andressa appears in Karl's mind. "No!" He pushes the beastkin away.
The nurse fell on the floor. Taken back from Karl's reaction, the nurse stands up as she fixes her dress and hair. She notices a purple glow in Karl's eyes and mistakes it for anger. She quickly bows down. "I-I am sorry. I am sorry. I couldn't figure out your intentions. Please don't report me. I am sorry."
Seeing that she is genuinely scared, Karl feels bad. "It's fine, I wasn't trying to harm you-" He extends his hand towards her.
In response, the nurse screams and crouches down. "KYAA! DON'T HIT ME! PLEASE!"
The feeling of uneasiness increases which turns into anxiety. Karl looks at his own hand. 'W-What am I doing? I didn't want to hurt her. It happened-'
'On it's own?' The voice of Leonard echoes in Karl's ears.
The shivering nurse glances up and sees a demon. She sees that the kid was biting his own lips so hard that it was bleeding. His eyes constantly flickering between yellow and purple. "GET THE FUCK OUT!" He yelled.
In fear, the nurse gets up from her place and runs towards the door.
Few minutes later, Karl steps out of the room. He is wearing his armour, his hair all messed up to hid the bald patches. He walks past a group of nurses who were talking with the scared bunny nurse. They all look at him and start to whisper loudly on purpose.
Ignoring them, Karl walks up to the main counter.
"Hello sir. How may I help you?" An elf with greenish-brown hair asks. He is wearing a lab coat with the federation mark on his chest.
"I am getting a discharge. Also, a cup of water." Karl says in a nonchalant tone.
"Yes, sir." He signals a nearby nurse to bring some water. "Here is your watch." The short elf takes out a tray with a watch on it. "Just need to scan this documents to finalize the discharge."
Karl grabs his watch scans few papers on the counter while the nurse brings him water. "Sir, here is the water." He takes the water with shaky hands, worried that it might move on it's own again.
The elf on the counter notices his reaction and grabs the scanned papers. He watches Karl drinking the water. "I hope that our service was able to fulfils your expectations."
Karl doesn't answer and puts glass on the table.
"The payment is covered by....The house of Phirsecots. Is this correct?" The elf asks.
"Yes."
The elf smiles and puts the papers away. "Good to know. You sir, are affiliated to a very honourable and trustworthy knighthood. We as beastkins are very fond of them as they are one of very few knighthoods who offers equal rights and actual shelter to us. I am delighted to have a chance to serve them."
Karl just stares at the elf before speaking. "Tell me. Is there a patient named Serena Ratan currently here?"
The elf quickly taps on a tablet behind the counter. "Normally, the list of patients is kept confidential. But I am making an exception." He looks up and smiles.
'Ugh. He talks fucking too much.' Karl thinks while displaying a poker face.
Few seconds later, the elf closes the tab. "Sir, the patient named Serena Ratan has been issued an discharge."
"Then, where is she now?" Karl asks in a hurry.
"Um." The elf clicks on his tab. "Unfortunately sir, I couldn't locate her. It is possible that she has left the dome entirely. As most of the eliminated participants have already left."
Karl clicks his tongue. "Is there a person named Mikaela here?"
The elf checks his database before answering. "Sorry sir. There is no patient with the name of Mikaela."
Karl sighs before walking away from the counter. He is walking towards the elevator. Ray spots Karl coming towards him. He calls the elevator and glances at the brat. "Why the long face?" Ray asks.
"I just met your dickrider." Karl scowls.
TING! Both of them step inside. Karl looks around and stares at Ray before asking. "Where is Ian?"
"He is busy in some other work." Ray answers.
"Okay…..Not even Hector or Alessa are coming along?"
Ray furrows his eyebrows. "This meeting is something not be public. The less people come the better. Beside that you are asking too many questions, are you scared that will be attacked? Heh. Don't worry kid. I am here."
Karl rolls his eyes at Ray's words. "I bet Hestia felt the same." He whispered.
"What did you say?" Ray snaps.
"N-Nothing. You are hearing things." Karl fumbles between his words.
Ray clearly heard the insult. He glares at Karl, ready to show this brat his true position.
TING! "Look! Look! The elevator doors are opened." Karl smiles awkwardly and walks ahead in hurry. Ray slowly follows behind, displeasure clearly shown on his face.
They are currently standing in a confined room which is just below the main stage. There are agents from federation along with knights from two different houses are standing side by side. Which is a rare sight. The lights in the room are concentrated in the centre. This room has a gloomy atmosphere to it. It is covered in the thick steel walls, making it more like a jail than a meeting room. Suddenly Karl stops as he sees a small crowd in front of him. Among the crowd, he sees few familiar faces. 'Estha and Mikaela. Also the Chief and Ken are here too.'
"Where are we, old man?" Karl asks.
"Meet the other members of top 10. These students that you see here are your enemies and your future allies." Ray answers as he stands away from the crowd.
Karl notices that with every student their sponsor or the benefactor has also tagged along. He tries to join strings together and reach a conclusion. "Are we….here to manipulate the tournament?"
Ray chuckles loudly. "Do you seriously assumed that this tournament is that important? While our empire is at the brink of extinction, do you seriously think that the sentinels would seat back and organize such useless events?"
Karl turns to him and grabs Ray's shirt aggressively. "Then what the fuck is happening? Why are we here?" Ray glances around for second.
"It was a test."
"A test? Don't fuck with me. I am not in the mood nor in the condition to entertain your 'tests'."
Ray grabs Karl's hand and gently takes it off his shirt. "You passed. The test is over."
Karl's eyes opens up in surprise. "You mean-"
Before Ray could hear Karl's words, a soothing and calming voice interrupted them. "May I have your attention?"
Both Karl and Ray turn their heads only to see Lady Treypin staring at them with a smile on her face. Besides her, Karlos has a unfriendly expression on his face and the Chief has a poker face but his eyes clearly fixed at Karl.
Karl quickly tightens his back and stands in the crowd like nothing happened. Ray follows along and pretends nothing happened.
"Now that I have everyone's attention. First, I would like to congratulate every brave student that have managed to made till here. You all must be very proud as everyone will get a chance to represent themselves at the front lines."
Few overly patriotic students started to scream a series of applause. "WOOH!"
"THE HORIZON HAS CHOSEN US!"
"I WILL KILL THOSE BLOOD SUCKERS!"
Even though the students are excited, not a single sponsor or benefactor has a positive look on their face. Amidst of these reactions, an unsettling feeling overtakes Karl's mind. He quickly looks at Ray who is quiet. Then, his eyes falls on Mikaela and Estha who has determined look on their face. Both Karlos and the Chief are quiet as well.
"As I mentioned earlier, the federation requires your help. The entire Andromeda empire require your help. Your help in saving humanity. Offer yourselves to the federation to-"
"What is this atrocity?" A woman spoke from the front. Everyone's eyes fell on that frail old woman. "You are basically asking us to sacrifice an entire generation of talents in your experiment." Vivnena said in a hostile tone.
Lady Treypin looked at the skeleton-like woman, her eyes filled with pity. Suddenly the Chief steps forward. "We are not asking you to sacrifice anything. The situation on the Red border is very severe. If no steps are taken against this, it won't be long for undead king's armies to arrive here."
"It is the duty of the sentinels to protect us and if the situation on the Red border is actually that dire. Then the emperor himself will ask for assistance directly through the royal decree." Vivnena questions back.
Karl notices the Claire clumsily pulling Vivnena away. "Stop it, grandma. You are embarrassing our house." Yet the old woman stands strong, refusing to move from her place.
The Chief gives a glance to Karlos before answering. "Senior elder, it is an honour to meet you." The Chief bows a bit. "As for your statement from earlier, yes if it was that severe the emperor would have personally asked. But it doesn't eliminate the current situation where hundreds of knights are being killed on the Red border every second we talk. You must have personal experience. That is why we the federation along with the help of the Overseer of this block, has developed a plan to turn the tide in our favours. The plan is to send our strongest in the new generation to run across the Red border into capital of Jereok. Where they will have to deliver a special package...…Do not worry about their safety as the package will be designed to help them as well"
Vivnena's eyes burns with anger. "How dare you! People like you who never went to war, have no idea what is it like. To court death. What do you know? You feds just sit in your luxurious offices build on massive sanctuary in the name of Horizon. The only thing you know is corruption and feed off the money that you steal in the name of Horizon. Was that not enough? Now you ask us to sell our children? Send them to war which is avoided by sentinels themselves?"
The Chief notices everyone is whispering about them. 'No! At this rate the deal will fail!' With these words in mind, the Chief selected the last option. He nods towards Karlos.
"Non-believer! The senior elder from Branchio family has spoken against the will of the horizon!" Karlos yells. Few knights bearing the crest of Ratan family quickly appear behind Vivnena and apprehend her.
"You will hear from my sentinel. Mark my words! I won't allow any of your foul schemes have any fruition. MARK MY WORDS!" Clarie tries to save her grandma but the knights drags away the senior elder, leaving the poor girl crying on her knees.
The Chief continues. "Now that the obstacle is gone, we will continue. Who will come forward to defend humanity?"
This time there was silence. Even the excited students from earlier are silent as now they know that something is fishy. Karlos signals the remaining knights and they make circle around the small crowd.
Ray smirks.
Lady Treypin is looking at the Chief for the final call. 'If they won't agree to our terms. Then we need to eliminate the-'
"I go." A feminine voice broke the silence. Mikaela steps forward and continues. "I know that federation is not trustable. But I believe in our Overseer and in her vision. Even if the plan has just a slight chance of closing the Red border which will lead to unification of empire. I will do it. For the innocent people. As a knight chosen by the Horizon, it is my duty to do so."
"Mikaela….you don't know everything. I suggest that you sit this one out." Estha tries to stop her but it is too late.
After Mikaela's speech, the students morale has ignited. "YEAH!"
"FOR THE HORIZON!"
"WE WILL DO IT!"
The Chief's face slowly regains it's expressionless mask, Lady Treypin's calm smile returns and Karlos simply glares at the golden princess.
In the entire room, Karl is the only student who is not cheering or screaming a war cry. "What the fuck just happened?"